


Security Tape: 404

by Fernis



Series: Such Things [2]
Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Angel is a little shit, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Gun Kink, He/Him Pronouns for Zer0 (Borderlands), M/M, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Swearing, axton and angel are friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:47:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25644532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fernis/pseuds/Fernis
Summary: "I may have watched Zer0 take out an entire Hyperion compound and did nothing about it." She says quietly, form flickering in and out of sight in that weird way it does."I'm pretty sure that's a good thing, darling. Anyway, why are you telling me this of all people?""I also may have stolen the security footage and sent it to your ECHO instead."He can hear the smile in her voice and it makes him groan quietly, "Crap, Angel. Why do you do this to me."With a laugh, she's gone.
Relationships: Axton/Zer0 (Borderlands)
Series: Such Things [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1867192
Comments: 5
Kudos: 27





	Security Tape: 404

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [pilot](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23591350) by [madrox (ramathorne)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ramathorne/pseuds/madrox), [nni](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nni/pseuds/nni). 



Angel knows about his stupid crush.

He really shouldn’t be surprised- She’s an AI who said it herself that she’s wired into basically everything on Pandora, if anyone was gonna find out, it was her.

Axton knows she knows because she and him actually talk, sometimes. The first time it happened he freaked the fuck out, thinking it was some sort of trap or some shit (He couldn’t be too suspicious after what she did to Sanctuary) but now he knows it’s just a normal thing. Angel checks in on the team sometimes; if he didn’t know any better the soldier might say that she gets bored. But who knows.

Angel and him talk frequently enough, her little blue holographic form appearing before his eyes and her voice coming out of his ECHO just to say hi, to let him know if there’s anything he should be worried about, if he needs to rescue one of the team from Moxxi’s after too many drinks.

On this particular occasion, Axton gets the feeling that she’s awfully smug about something (He can hear it in her voice) and he can only ignore it for so long before he gets curious enough to open his mouth and ask like a grown-ass man, “Alright darling, spit it out. What is it?”

There’s a pause, then she laughs, seemingly delighted by something. “I finally figured it out; You like Zer0,” Angel sounds way too pleased with herself.

_Axton is mortified._

There’s a moment where he debates playing it cool, mind whirring with all the possible outcomes of trying to deny it- But hell, she can probably see him right now and they both know that she’s hit the nail right on the head. Axton buries his face in his hands and groans, glad to be sitting on the edge of Sanctuary and giving a very brief moment of thought to just jumping off the edge. He does not need this right now, thank you very much.

“Angel, with all due respect, what the fuck.” He can hear her still laughing at him, cementing the idea that she can definitely see him somehow. It feels like maybe that should be something he should be worried about (An enemy AI being able to see the city? That’s not ideal), but frankly he’s too busy drowning in shame to really be concerned.

“So I’m right, I knew it!” Her hologram flickers before his eyes, beaming brightly, and he feels only marginally better about this whole thing- Angel doesn’t seem to smile enough. “There’s nothing to be worried about; You know I won’t tell anyone, and I’m sure it’s not that obvious to anyone who isn’t watching the entire planet all the time.”

He can feel her wilt a little at her own words from the way they trickle off toward the end, and a bit of silence sets in. Axton wants to sigh, because he wants to believe her, but she’s only an AI under Jack’s control; if he wanted, Axton’s little hard-on for Zer0 could become public knowledge. But he doesn’t sigh, because he doesn’t want to be a dick and kick Angel when she’s down and obviously didn’t mean to bring up the reminder.

“I know sweetheart, you’re good at keeping secrets.”

-

It’s late in the day. Most of the team is out doing missions; Gaige and Sal got sent off to go on a bloody gun-based rampage in some bandit camp, Maya and Krieg (He didn’t know why the siren had insisted on bringing him along) were out helping Zed with something? He thinks that it might have been some kind of delivery. Zer0 had been ordered on some secret mission given out by Tannis that Axton really didn’t want to know about. All in all, it left him alone at base with his little lady, who needs a little tweaking anyway so it’s alright.

A familiar tinge of blue in front of Axton’s eyes makes him grunt a little in displeasure. Well, he is alone with his little lady and _Angel,_ apparently. He knows she can’t see him; there’s no cameras in the house he’s sharing with the team, so unless she has some freaky tech that can see through walls, she doesn’t know what he’s up to. It’s confirmed by the way she stays quiet for a bit, flickering in his vision but not wanting to intrude or interrupt something.

“Talk to me darling, I’m not busy.” 

Another second of silence has him crossing his arms and leaning back from the table where his turret is spread out, but Angel must tell he’s waiting because she pipes up quickly, “So.. I take it you’re alone?”

“Wouldn’t have talked if I wasn’t,” It was true; Axton may have warmed up a little to Angel after she’d helped them get back to Sanctuary, and the team’s feelings were pretty much the same, but someone like Roland.. Well, it was best not to mention her around the higher ups. “So what do you need, Angel? I’m working on the little lady right now.”

"I may have watched Zer0 take out an entire Hyperion compound and did nothing about it." She says quietly, form flickering in and out of sight in that weird way it does.

"I'm pretty sure that's a good thing, sweetheart. Anyway, why are you telling me this of all people?"

"I also may have stolen the security footage and sent it to your ECHO instead." 

He can hear the smile in her voice and it makes him groan quietly, "Crap, Angel. Why do you do this to me."

With a laugh, she's gone.

Axton makes a valiant attempt to finish upgrading his turret, he really does, but there’s only so long a man can ignore the insistent flashing of his ECHO (That he knows is a video that is, well, probably better than porn) before he caves and retreats to his room.

There’s a long moment where he just stands there, door locked and lights off, somewhat unsure of what to do with himself. He eyes his bed, but ultimately decides that sitting _there_ is an invitation for something utterly embarrassing and he should at least try to retain some semblance of dignity. He chooses the chair.

His ECHO blinks to life in his hands and there’s a helpful little notification pointing out exactly where he needs to tap in order to see the video Angel sent him. He almost hesitates, but he’s curious and he knows this has got to be something good. Axton has seen Zer0 in battle, but of course he was also a little preoccupied with trying not to fucking die, so that sort of detracts from the experience a little.

With a sigh (What the fuck is he doing? This has got to be some new kind of low), he hits play. The effect is immediate; there're a couple different angles, but Angel clearly wanted the best view of the action and only seems to show the cameras that focus on Zer0 at any given time. He’s immediately hooked.

The gate is first, a couple turrets blinking to life to fire at a shadowy figure darting toward the entrance. The first doesn’t even get to send off a shot, a corrosive round splashing across the side and melting the thing right off the wall. The second doesn’t fare much better, and Axton only gets a glimpse of the assassin as he disappears inside.

The next camera must be mounted on a building somewhere, and tracks Zer0’s movement religiously. The loaders and engineers must know there’s a threat, because they begin pouring out of the warehouses or dropping from the sky. But the assassin never falters, cutting them down with quick strikes of his katana or putting holes in their foreheads. 

Axton feels a little lightheaded. Zer0 is a goddamn _masterpiece,_ vaulting over obstacles and clambering up to high points like it was the easiest thing in the world. He never even looks out of breath, lining up killing shot after killing shot without fail, ducking behind cover when he has to (Which is so rare it makes the rest of the team seem like bumbling idiots). He never walks around a corner without checking, never enters a new zone without scouting it from a distance first.

He’s fucking beautiful.

At some point, a group of engineers gets the assassin in a corner. He ducks behind a few storage containers, pulling out his rifle with such ease that Axton physically can’t feel alarmed; clearly, there’s nothing to worry about. Zer0 picks off two of them with well-placed headshots, but the third learns his lesson and tries to get the fuck out of there. Tries. As the engineer attempts to jump to the ground level, a shot rings out and the man’s body crumples to the dirt below. Zer0 made the kill while the engineer was in mid-air. Because of course he did. The soldier hits pause.

Axton doesn’t realize how rigid he is until he lets out a breath. That’s.. That’s really fucking hot. Knowing that Zer0 has such skill, that no matter how good Axton gets he will always be better, it makes him feel outmatched in every sense of the word. It’s almost ridiculous, like something out a stupid porno. Between the two of them, the assassin is stronger, more powerful, he’s the dominant male or whatever the fuck you want to call it.

_And Axton loves it._

He’s half hard from simply watching the way Zer0 kills, and it only gets worse when he hits play again. Another group of engineers tries to make their way toward the assassin, taking cover and getting too close to snipe. 

The camera doesn't pick it up, but Axton can tell the exact moment Zer0 switches on his hologram and disappears. He’s seen it so many times that he just _knows,_ and sure enough, the engineers begin to fall, bloody lines cut through their bodies. The final one tries to scramble away but Zer0 materializes right in front of him and slams him against the wall beneath the camera. The engineer lets out a gurgle and the assassin drops him to the ground, the body sliding off the sword with an almost eerie quiet. It does nothing to mask the dark chuckle that comes from Zer0 as a **Ø** settles onto that helmet.

Axton slams his hand down a little too forcefully, stopping the video and surging from the chair like his life depends on it. He needs to move. That little chuckle worms its way into his brain and he has to move. He finds himself on the bed, sitting there rock hard with his head in his hands and desperately trying not to think about that damned **Ø.**

He presses his palms to his eyes and that’s a mistake, because behind his eyelids he can still see the image of Zer0 slamming that man against the wall and sliding that katana up beneath his rib cage. Fuck, if Axton lets himself he can imagine that he’s the one pinned to the wall, but instead of the sharp pain of death it’s the sting of the blade to his throat and the phantom pressure of a knee between his thighs.

The thought makes the soldier groan a little and he lays back on the bed, fumbling with his clothes until he can discard them and lay comfortably, one arm sprawled over his eyes and his other hand gripping his cock tightly. A visible shudder runs through Axton as he hesitantly starts to stroke, a low groan escaping him as his brain begins to conjure up other images of the deadly assassin.

Zer0, splattered with blood and standing above him, his katana angled down just enough to rest the tip on his chest. The assassin jumped him after catching him staring too long during battle and wanted to know what was going on in that sick head of his. He’d press down slightly when Axton hesitates to answer, the blade catching on his jacket just enough to press a pinprick of blood to the skin below. Maybe the soldier would try to stutter out a reply, play it off like a joke or something, but Zer0’s too smart for that. He’d know immediately what was going through Axton’s mind.. Maybe he’d press a little harder until Axton breaks and confesses.

He can feel the derision, sense it in the way that Zer0 would just _look_ at him for a bit, then tell him to get on with it. If he wants this so bad, _do it._

The fantasy changes, and Axton follows it, kneeling on the bed and fisting his cock in an almost painful grip when he imagines the assassin standing above him, pressing a pistol to his head. The sound Axton makes is _ragged,_ wrist twisting and fuck, that combination makes him falter. He can almost hear the click of a hammer pulling back, and he lets out an honest-to-god whimper. One of his nails barely catches on the head of his cock for just a second and he moans, having to use his other hand to brace himself on the bed so he doesn’t fall over face first like a dumbass.

Shit, what would Zer0 think if he saw Axton like this? The soldier can imagine them sneering behind that helmet, humoring him for no other reason than amusement. The assassin only ever seems truly invested in killing, it’s easy to imagine that he’d only feel contempt for the man who can’t keep it in his pants. The idea doesn’t sting, instead setting Axton off just a little more, conjuring that blank visor in his vision, boring into him as he fucks into his own hand because Zer0 _lets him._

The assassin in his mind’s eye tilts Axton’s head up, that ominous **Ø** flaring against the obsidian background. There's a beat of silence, and the soldier would pause, heart stuttering when he sees the glaring red of that symbol. Zer0 has him right where he wants him; could end his life right here if he truly wanted. Axton probably wouldn’t even try to stop him.. But instead, a mocking **:)** would flash in front of his eyes, followed closely with the words, “You belong to me, Axton.”

He shudders, climax hitting him hard and fast, almost unexpected in the way it overtakes him. He lets out a long groan, pumping himself through it until he’s just shy of oversensitive, then a little past that because the idea of Zer0 not wanting to give him a break is.. It’s fucking nice.

Axton lays back on the bed, hands falling limp at his sides and breath coming fast and shallow. He must look a mess, sweaty and flushed; he should probably get up and shower, or something (At least clean up, jeez) but he figures it wouldn't hurt to just relax for a second and enjoy a few more moments envisioning the assassin. He can clean up later.

He’s definitely saving that tape, though.

-

Halfway across the planet, a guardian Angel is telling a certain assassin that he should pay more attention to his teammates. Why? Oh, no reason, none at all. She bets he won’t be able to figure it out, though.

He accepts the challenge with a smile.


End file.
